Design + Creativity + Adventure = LOVE

You know what I find fascinating about the whole One Little Word® concept? Some years a word will come to me loud and clear and other years my word will show up as quiet whisper. And I’m never quite sure in any year which one will happen.

Last year I skipped OLW because I was pregnant, just barely out of that exhausting first trimester and I just didn’t feel like I needed something else added to my plate. And really, there wasn’t any word that felt like it could capture all that 2014 had in store.

This year it’s the complete opposite. Back in November my OLW for 2015 came to me in a burst of inspiration and it was like YES, THAT IS MY WORD. Love when that happens.

Some of the words I’ve had in the past have been: focus, connect, adventure and determination, with adventure hands down being my favorite of the bunch so far.

So what’s my word for 2015?

OPEN

Why open?

Well I loved that it could be a noun, adjective or verb. I loved that it had a large variety of definitions that could be applied to my life in multiple ways.

But what I love most of all is that it’s a word outside my comfort zone.

Despite being an extroverted-leaning ambivert and running an online scrapbooking design business, I’m actually a pretty private person by nature. I’ve always been that way. I’m not an oversharer. I’m cautious about what I share to the point where I definitely over think it. I talk myself out of sharing things I’m excited about for way too many reason to share here, most of which I’m sure are totally lame.

Being open means being vulnerable and being vulnerable isn’t something I naturally do very well. But I think it’s time to change that.

Back in 2009 when Adam deployed to Afghanistan, I chose the word adventure. At the time I didn’t feel adventurous. I didn’t feel like an adventurer. But I knew it was what I needed to be to make it through that year.

And I loved it.

It pushed me outside my comfort zone in ways I hadn’t expected. I tried new things (like flying an airplane), got out and met new people and it was ultimately that year that gave me the courage to launch NettioDesigns.

It was a word that stuck with me ever since. The quote you find at the bottom of this website is there because of that word. It changed me, became a part of me, and I’m feeling hopeful that this year OPEN will do the same.

As part of that I decided this year instead of taking Ali’s One Little Word class, I would choose three goals/intentions to focus on with my word this year.

Here is my list:

1) OPEN book

At the top of my list for my word this year is to share more. I want to push myself to be an open book, not necessarily to the point of over sharing but I would love to be more open about why I do what I do and what lessons I’ve learned especially when it comes to running a creative business.

I know I’ve learned so much from people who’ve been open with me that it’s high time I return that favor.

2) OPEN to new ideas

This past year felt like a bit of a lost year for me both creatively and with my business. Part of that had to do with having a baby midway through the year and adjusting to motherhood and part of it had to do with me simply ready for something new.

What that new thing is, I don’t know yet, but this year I want to find out. I want to be open to new ideas, move outside my existing bubble and play, experiment, and try new things to see what shakes out.

3) OPEN to new adventures

Our family of three is making a pretty major change mid-year – as of May 2015, we will no longer be a military family. This is something we’ve be thinking about and working towards for several years and with Ryan being so young now feels like the time to go for it. We’re ready to make this leap but it’s still a little nerve wracking to leave behind the only lifestyle you’ve known for the past nine years.

So my goal this year is simply to keep an open mind and be open to whatever comes next. Really that could be the theme for this entire year which is why this word feels so perfect. I’m excited to see how it plays out!

What about you? Have you chosen a word for 2015? I feel like good things happen in years that end in multiples of five so I’m feeling pretty optimistic about 2015.

One Little Word® is a year-long project created by Ali Edwards. You can learn more about it on her site here.

Woohoo, we are one quarter of the way done with 2013! How are you liking setting monthly goals so far?

Me? I’m totally loving it. A month is turning out to be exactly the right amount of time for me to stay excited and complete my goals while still giving me time to make adjustments or scrap a goal completely if I’m just not feeling it that month.

As I mentioned in January when I introduced my One Little Word for 2013, DETERMINATION, every month I’m pairing my one little word with four goals every month, themed around the phrase “This Month I’m Determined To…”, complete with a 6×6-inch inspiration card to keep my goals front & center throughout the month.

You can find templates for making your own monthly inspiration cards here.

This is what my March card looked like:

March 2013: Monthly Goal Update

Well, after the bust that was February, I’m happy to say that I kicked some goal-setting boo-tay in March. The tweaks I mentioned in my March post, like simplifying and making sure I choose goals that are want-to-dos rather than should-dos, totally paid off. Not only did I achieve all of my goals for the month but Adam and I were on such a roll that we managed to check off 6 items from our San Antonio bucket list instead of the two I’d set as a goal.

April 2013 Goal-Setting

So after my goal-setting success in March, what do I have planned for April?

Well, here’s a look at the digital version of my goals inspiration card for April. As always, I printed this card out and have it hanging near my desk in my office so I can be reminded of my goals every day.

This month is a little bit different as Adam will be traveling a bit this month for training. While we’re certainly no strangers to being apart, this will be the first time since we moved to San Antonio. But one of my “rules of military life survival” is that I choose to look at any time we spend apart as an opportunity for my own growth, so while I’m sure I’ll miss him, I’m also excited for the chance to have some new adventures on my own as well.

My One Little Word intention I set back at the start of the year for April was “grow” which is kind of hilarious since I had no idea at the time what April & May would have in store for us. That’s some serendipity, no? So I definitely aimed to pick goals for this month that fit with this idea of growth and I’ve also got an additional “to-do while Adam is away” list of mini goals as well. Should be fun! Once he gets home for good we’ll be in full-on moving mode so I figure I should enjoy this time before things get crazy.

Well that’s it for this April edition of 2013 Goal-Setting! How are you doing with your monthly goal-setting so far this year? Do you have anything excited planned for April? I’d love to hear what you’re up to so feel free to share in the comments below!

Wow, can you believe it’s already the second week of March? Holy cow, this year is flying! But the good news is it means it’s time for another round of goal-setting!

I mentioned in January when I introduced my One Little Word for 2013, DETERMINATION, that I planned to pair my word with four goals every month, themed around the phrase “This Month I’m Determined To…”, complete with a 6×6-inch inspiration card to keep my goals front & center throughout the month.

You can find templates for making your own monthly inspiration cards here.

This is what my February card looked like:

February 2013: Monthly Goal Update

Well, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, this month was a bit of a bust, haha. If I’m feeling generous I’d say I completed 1 out of 4 but even that’s a stretch.

1 & 2 definitely didn’t happen, although I did start #2 so that’s something! #3 would have happened but once we found out we were going to be moving, I decided it didn’t make much sense to do it now. Luckily our new place should have an even better space for it.

And #4 is the one I’d say I completed but not really – definitely didn’t achieve 2x a week but since we went on a big trip with lots of hiking, I figure time-wise it balances out. So maybe half a point?

Looking back I think there are two reasons for that:

1) After the high of January, I was a bit too ambitious with my goal-setting this month. There were quite a few big time consuming items on there that I’m not sure I really had time to commit to, especially not all at once. Not to mention that all of the goals were big enough that I’m not sure I really believed when I set them that I could achieve them.

2) I included too many shoulds instead of wants. I want my goals to be fun & inspiring not a re-hash of my regular to-do list.

So what am I planning to do differently in March? Here are a few things:

1) Simplify, simplify, simplify. I love big scary goals but I also want my monthly goals to be realistic and achievable. There’s nothing worse than feeling like why try before you even start. So I need to make sure to make more little goals that I can easily check off rather than ones that are too daunting to finish.

2) Track my progress. As part of her I Choose class at Big Picture Classes, Elise included some printable goal tracker sheets. I’m planning to print out one for each goal so I can track my tasks as well as my successes. I also think I’ll print out a different calendar just for goal planning/tracking.

3) Don’t be too hard on myself. I’ll admit when I first realized the end of February was here and I hadn’t accomplished any of my goals, my first thought was “I suck and I totally failed this month.” Really the answer is I didn’t, my priorities just ended up being different than I thought they would be. It happens. This is the great thing about setting monthly goals – it allows you to reassess and start fresh every month. Love that.

March 2013 Goal-Setting

So with that in mind, here’s the digital version of my goals inspiration card for March:

And here’s what it looks like hanging above my desk. I may end up moving it back towards my to-do list but for now I’m liking that it’s capturing my attention again simply by being in a different place. Sometimes you gotta just switch things up to make things happen!

I’m not going to lie, I had a tough time coming up with goals this month. For some reason I was feeling a lot of stress & anxiety over which ones to choose. Adam said he thought it was because we have a lot to do before our move but I think it’s more that I’m still trying to find that balance for big vs little goals and personal vs business goals.

Last month I felt my goals were too big/business-focused so this month I’m focusing on tasks I want to do just for me. Our big task this month is to start purging and sorting in preparation for our move since Adam will be gone for training a big chunk of April, so I tried to keep my other goals small and fun.

Considering as soon as I started putting together my inspiration card, I was already feeling motivated to start, I’d say I’m on the right track.

One Little Word 2013: February Assignment

I mentioned last month that one of the ways I’m staying in touch with my One Little Word this year is through Ali Edward’s One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes. This month’s assignment was to create a vision board based around your word. I’ll admit, I procrastinated horribly about doing it but once I started, it was actually fun!

Ali’s example was on a 16×20-inch canvas but I wanted something a little smaller so I went with a 14×18-inch canvas which seemed like a good size.

I decided to do this all paper as opposed to digital so I started by ripping a bunch of pages that had words/images I liked out of a stack of magazines (mostly Real Simple & one Oprah magazine). Then I started layering the big images first…

And kept adding bits until I had a design I liked…

Next came the glueing stage. I’d planned to use this Matte Medium I had on hand since it said it was good for collage on bottle and I figured it’d be similar to mod podge. Uh, no, totally wrong. This stuff didn’t work at all! All it did was wrinkle the paper and make it curl up so it wouldn’t stick at all.

This was also the time Adam chose to come home from work and my frustration must have been showing because his response to me was “Uh, I think this is why you do digital.” LOL!

I eventually resorted to a combination of a regular old gluestick and my trusty tape runner. Worked WAY better and didn’t wrinkle all the paper. The only downside was the tape runner is permanent so I couldn’t adjust things after I placed them, so there’s a few items not quite where I wanted them but I figure this isn’t really the kind of project where perfection is required.

Here’s what my finished DETERMINATION vision board looks like…

I did end up spraying it with a clear spray to seal it but since the edges of some of the small pieces are sticking up still, I may glue those down a little better. Overall I’m really happy with it! I love the bold colors and the mix of type – very me. Not sure where I’m going to put it yet but I’m thinking somewhere near my desk so I can see every day.

Well that’s it for this March edition of 2013 Goal-Setting! How’d your February goal-setting go? What do you have planned for March?

February is here which means it’s time for another round of monthly goal-setting!

I mentioned in January when I introduced my One Little Word for 2013, DETERMINATION, that I planned to pair my word with four goals every month, themed around the phrase “This Month I’m Determined To…”, complete with a 6×6-inch inspiration card to keep my goals front & center throughout the month.

You can find templates for making your own monthly inspiration cards here.

This is what my January card looked like:

And here it was printed and hanging all pretty like on my white board:

January 2013: Monthly Goal Update

So how did I do on my January goals?

Well I completed 3.5 of my 4 goals, which I’d say is pretty dang awesome for it being my first attempt! I met both of my work goals as well as my fun goal of hanging art in our master bedroom and dining room (including buying enough frames at once that the young male checker at Target asked if I was starting an art gallery, haha).

The one goal I didn’t completely succeed at was getting to the gym two times a week but that was more to do with choosing to prioritize some of the work related stuff over that goal so I’m hoping I’ll be able to fit it in better this month. I’m the kind of weirdo who loves the gym so for my own sanity, haha, this needs to be squeezed into my schedule better this month.

I can tell you that I have NO DOUBT that having this visual reminder of my goals every day as I checked my to-do list was a HUGE reason why I was so successful in January. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t actually expect it to work as well as it did but I think it did for three key reasons:

1) I posted them in a prominent place. My white board hangs in the hallway coming into our office loft area so every time I walk into the room, no matter what I’m doing, I have to walk by these goals. I’m very much a set-and-forget type of goal-setter normally so actually seeing my goals every day kept them on my mind.

2) Writing & printing them out makes them seem legit. It seems silly but it’s true. Having them printed out not only made my goals seem much more real but it also made me feel extra committed to them. Like they were more set-in-stone than if I just randomly thought about them.

3) It kept me accountable. The great thing about having your goals out in the open where you can easily see them? It means everyone else can see them too. Which means if you don’t accomplish them, you’re no longer the only person who will know. The last thing I wanted to have to do at the end of the month was take down that month’s goals card and admit I hadn’t been determined enough to someone other than myself.

The great thing about this was it kept Adam and I on the same page. When I announced my plans one weekend to work on hanging up art around the house, since it was one of my goals for the month, it didn’t come from completely out of the blue.

February 2013 Monthly Goal-Setting

So what made my Four Goals cut for February? Here’s a little look at the digital version of my card. I do have it printed & hanging already but the light here hasn’t cooperated lately (cloudy and blah) so you’re going to have to just imagine it hanging in the same spot as my January card above, haha.

Interestingly enough, my four goals for February fall into the same categories as last month: 2 work goals, 1 fun goal and 1 health goal. It’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues throughout the year.

I also changed up the wording of my workout goal to make it a bit more do-able. Really it should probably say something like, step away from the computer from time to time, haha, but I think this is a good do-able goal, even if it just means taking a quick walk around the neighborhood at lunch.

One Little Word 2013: January Assignment

One of the things I am incorporating into my monthly goal-setting this year are the assignments from Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes. I hadn’t intended to sign up for the OLW class again this year since I’d done it the last two years, but since the prompts are all new this year, I thought I’d give it another go and so far I’m really liking it!

January’s prompt was to set 12 intentions for your word, 1 for each month of the year, by pairing your word with another to make a phrase. Seems right up my alley given my intention to pair my word with goals already.

Since my word for 2013 is determination, I decided to go with the phrase: “Determined To…”. The assignment was then to design a two-page spread showcasing one card for each month using your phrases and the We R Memory Keepers 9-photo page protectors (or something similar).

I started out by sketching out some (really rough & ugly, please ignore my sketch handwriting, haha) concepts for different cards:

I decided I liked the one on the top right the best so next I created my pages in Photoshop using the free 9 card Photoshop template Ali included with the class. I placed the two documents side by side so I could see how things would flow and so I could move papers and elements easily between the two.

Here’s a closer look at the digital version of the left page:

And the right page (which will actually the backside of the page protector once printed):

I’m not usually one to play with a lot of artsy products, even non-messy digital products, haha, but it was actually really fun to layer and play and see what I could come up with. I love that each card is like it’s own mini canvas.

All of the text on the cards are kind of like general mini-goals, or intentions if you will, which I plan to incorporate each month as part of my Four Monthly goals. So for example, February’s card says:

Determined to start: START on a big project that’s been on your to-do list for way too long.

I actually have two goals this month that fulfill that intention: redesigning the Nettio Designs website and hanging up our adventure gallery wall (which I’ve been collecting stuff for for like two years now, haha).

Since I’m obviously writing all of these intentions at the beginning of the year before I know what’s really going to happen each month, it’ll be interesting to see how these intentions play out. But I tried to keep them general enough that they can be applied in multiple ways.

Here’s a look at my printed cards in the page protectors. Front-side:

Back-side:

A closer look at one of the text cards:

More card details:

And one final look at the title card, which is actually made up of some digital kraft paper and three different digital brushes:

I haven’t decided completely how I’m going to store these pages. Right now I’m thinking I’m going to include them at the front of my Project Life album so I see them on a regular basis. But depending on how the assignments for Ali’s One Little Word class pan out, I may eventually move them into their own album. We’ll see.

Anyone else taking Ali’s One Little Word class this year? Did you set monthly goals in January? If so, how’d your goal-setting for Jan turn out? If you used the Monthly Goal-tracker inspiration cards like I did, did they help you keep your goals front & center? You know I love to chat so share your thoughts in the comments below.

Welcome to One Little Word 2013. If you’re new to the idea of One Little Word, it’s super simple. All you do is select one word to keep in mind throughout the year. Last year I chose the word connect and I’ll admit, it manifested itself in a much different, but still good, way they I thought that it would when I chose it last year.

This year, I had my word picked out several months before the end of the year. That word was time. I was so sure about it that I even created a layout for it at the beginning of December as part of the Sweet Shoppe January Portfolio Challenge:

Layout Credits: Oh Happy Day by Mari Koegelenberg and Zoe Pearn; Kraftelicious No. 2 Alpha by Mari Koegelenberg; Inked Edges Alpha by Kristin Cronin-Barrow; Grey Alpha from A Beautiful Thing by Zoe Pearn; Small White Alpha from One For The Boys by Zoe Pearn; Wordy Bits and Clock from Time Flies by Meghan Mullens and Julie Billingsley; Clock from A Christmas Countdown by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Zoe Pearn; Curvy Corner Stitched Blocks by Anna Apnes; Fonts are Lobster and DJB 4 Lynnette by Darcy Baldwin

But when January 1st finally rolled around, something about the word time didn’t feel right. It wasn’t that was a bad or irrelevant word, it just didn’t feel bold enough or actionable enough. It didn’t feel like it encompassed all I wanted to focus on this year. It was a fine enough word, it just didn’t feel like my word anymore.

Later that night, Adam and I were talking and I mentioned how I was nervous about the start of the year because I had a lot I’d like to accomplish and I didn’t know if was really possible.

And he turned to me and said,

“You have the skills, you just need the determination.”

And something about the word determination clicked. It felt right.

But I wanted to be sure. So I did what any tech-lovin’ gal would do: I googled it.

…I knew this was the word I needed for this year. Because it encompassed everything I had really wanted to get from the word time but in a way that’s much more powerful and really at the core of what I was looking for.

My 2013 One Little Word: Determination

So determination is officially my one little word for 2013. I even made a new layout for it – hey, why not use what you’ve got – that’s the beauty of digital, right?

She Believed She Could by Kristin Cronin-Barrow; Inked Edges Alpha by Kristin Cronin-Barrow; Grey Alpha from A Beautiful Thing by Zoe Pearn (clipped with paper); Small White Alpha from One For The Boys by Zoe Pearn; Curvy Corner Stitched Blocks by Anna Apnes; Fonts are Lobster and DJB 4 Lynnette by Darcy Baldwin

January 2013 Goal-Setting

One thing I’ve known for months was that I wanted to combine my One Little Word this year into my goals for the year. If you follow Elise’s blog, you’ll know she did something similar for her word “choose” last year. And in her Big Picture I Choose class (which I highly recommend by the way!), she talks quite a bit about the importance of not only setting monthly goals but of also capturing them in a creative way.

So I knew I wanted to do something similar to what she did but with my own spin on it. Something I could share here on the blog but also print out as a reminder of what I want to focus on that month. And I knew it to had to be simple enough to put together every month or else I wouldn’t do it.

I came up with the idea to make a 6×6-inch goal-setting inspiration card to go with my monthly goals each month. My plan is to set 4 goals each month encompassing a good balance of life areas (something else Elise talks about in her class. You don’t want all your goals to be say, work-related since you’re likely to get burnt that way).

This is what I came up with, themed around the phrase “This Month I’m Determined To:” in reference to my 2013 OLW Determination:

And here’s what it looks like printed and hanging up on my white board all pretty like:

Fun, right? I just printed it out here at home on Epson Premium Presentation Matte paper and trimmed it out with my paper trimmer. I like that it’s clean and simple but still a little scrappy. Very me, haha.

Well that’s it for this January installment of One Little Word Goal-Setting! If you’re interested in making your own OLW layout or Monthly Goal inspiration cards, have no fear – both products will be hitting the Sweet Shoppe on Saturday. Just consider this an extra early sneak peek for all you lovely blog readers.

How about you – did you choose a One Little Word for this year? Did you set any monthly goals? Are you doing anything fun to document them? I love to chat so feel free to share what you’re up to in the comments below.

Well, it’s official. We’re one quarter of the way done with 2012. Only nine short months before the end of world, folks, are you ready?

I’ll be back later this week with an update on my 2012 Scrapbooking Resolutions but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite layouts I’ve done so far this year.

To be fair, it wasn’t really that hard to decide considering I’ve only digital scrapbooked a whopping 15 pages so far this year which I know, I know, most of you do that many layouts in your sleep. But hey, it’s been a busy year so far! And surprisingly that number actually puts me two layouts ahead of where I was at this time last year. That my friends, is progress.

To kick things off I’m starting with the first layout I did this year, my One Little Word layout for 2012.

One Little Word 2012

I never really think to do photo-free layouts but every time I do them, I end up loving them. I especially love how the talk bubble cutouts came out on this one – I just want to reach out and touch them.

2012 Goals

I’m pretty sure I could do clean, blocked designs like this for the rest of my scrapbooking life and be perfectly happy. I just love the clean lines and all the little homes for the elements. Plus this kit is pretty much a combination of my favorite colors in the whole world which is why my outfit ended up perfectly matching despite being completely unplanned.

October 2011 Faves

Aww, repeating shapes, how I love thee. The shapes on this page were actually inspired by a design I saw on Pinterest – I love that they’re geometric but still a little wonky. And of course, a Chicago layout (with photos of the Bean, no less) is always a good time because it means I got to hang out with my sis who’s a grad student there.

Life is an Adventure

I can’t remember where the inspiration for this layout came from but this was one of those pages that just flowed. Like you come up with the idea and wham, what feels like seconds later, you’ve got an awesome layout you love. That doesn’t happen to me all that often so when it does I’m always amazed. But I love how bold and colorful it is and the cutout title of my life motto is one of my fave trends of the moment.

You & Me

This layout is actually a redesign of another older less-loved layout of mine (more on that another day) but I LOVE how it turned out this time. Zoe’s kits always rock my socks and this one was no exception. I would so wallpaper my house in those yellow chevrons if I could. Plus the elements in this kit were to die for – it was so fun to just layer and play.